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"I have known Jeremy and worked with him for a very long time. He's very capable, he's young enough and he's got the time to do it properly."

If there was one thing Mr Pearce would like to change, it would be to make sure Horizons Region farmers who implemented costly environmental standards got premium prices for the food they produced.

He said consumers were looking for products that met social and environmental bottom lines. An organisation outside of Horizons but linked to it would be needed, he said, to market produce and achieve that.